book talks, story times, crafts, experiments, and fun ideas for librarians, teachers, and kids of all ages

9.01.2012

Reading is All Good

Here in my neck of the woods, school got started this week. This year, I am inspired by Pete the Cat, written by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean, and his awesome attitude.

For teachers (and school librarians) it can be easy to get discouraged by any number of frustrations from broken technology to misbehaving students. Kids encounter as many challenges each day. Pete, on the other hand, keeps his head up even when things don't go quite as he planned. I love Pete's approach so much that I introduced all my library classes with a read-aloud of Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. Students from kindergarten all the way through fifth grade loved the predictable text, hilarious illustrations, and glass-half-full perspective of the story.

After reading the story, visit HarperCollins' website where you will find audio downloads for each story as well as videos and printable worksheets.